Grand Jury Rules Jarame Reid Shooting Justified

Jarame Reid was an ex-con with a history of armed violence towards police, and was known by both New Jersey police officers who encountered him as a passenger in a December, 2014 traffic stop. Mr. Reid was non-compliant with officers during the stop even after having a gun removed from the vehicle, and was shot and killed as he forced his way out of the vehicle, while he was “unarmed.”

I did an analysis of the shooting via the squad car’s dashcam video in January.

[Officer] Days had already removed one weapon from the vehicle, and knew for a fact that he was dealing with a violent convicted felon who had fired upon law enforcement officers in the past. Reid was a clear lethal force threat, and officers never use less-lethal systems (batons, tasers, chemical sprays) in such situations.

Reid was given repeated warnings to not move and to keep his hands up, but exited the vehicle towards Officer Days. Days had every reason to believe that Reid was raising a weapon, and shot to stop the threat. When Reid stopped being a threat, Days stopped firing, scanned and assessed the situation, and then kept Reid covered as an officer responding to the scene handcuffed Reid off-camera. Officer Worley got Leroy Tutt safely out of the vehicle searched him and secured him, and moved him away from the shooting scene.

There should not be any controversy here.

Jerame Reid advanced upon a cop and raised his hands rapidly, as if he was drawing a weapon.

The officer’s response of “front sight, press,” was entirely appropriate.

A grand jury voted not to file charges against two police officers for fatally shooting a man in New Jersey who defied orders by stepping out of a car with his hands raised during a traffic stop, a killing captured by their patrol car’s dashboard camera, prosecutors said Thursday.
The officers told investigators that they feared for their lives during the December 2014 stop of 36-year-old Jerame Reid, according to a statement from the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office. The officers had arrested Reid in August 2014 on charges of resisting arrest and knew he had served about 13 years in prison after being convicted as a teenager of shooting at state troopers, investigators said.

It’s very sad, but Reid has now officially joined a growing list of “unarmed” men who have been killed in officer-involved shootings because they couldn’t follow simple instructions, and who let their contempt for law enforcement officers drive them to commit what is arguably “suicide by cop.”

Bob Owens is the Editor of BearingArms.com.
Bob is a graduate of roughly 400 hours of professional firearms training classes, including square range and force-on force work with handguns and carbines. He is a past volunteer instructor with Project Appleseed. He most recently received his Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Instructor certification from Centrifuge Training, and is the author of the short e-book, So You Want to Own a Gun.
He can be found on Twitter at bob_owens.
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